see it as it's happening. ashleigh? >> barbara starr, thank you for that. major general spider marks, always good to hear from you, as well. thank you both. and cnn is continuing to watch live as these developments come in. it almost seems by the moment. stay tuned, my colleague wolf blitzer takes over the coverage right now. russian troops swarming the peninsula, but deny an ultimatum to surrender. also right now, new questions over whether a weak u.s. foreign policy contributed to the crisis in ukraine. senator john mccain says it did. he's here live with me this hour. and right now, the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu is on his way over to the white house to meet with president obama, where he may be receiving a blunt warning about receiving a blunt warning about israel's future. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. there is a lot to tell you over the next hour. on the deepening crisis in ukraine. at the center of the conflict, the peninsula seen here in red. there you see it in the middle of the screen. ukraine's defense minister says they have warned officials to swear allegiance to the new crimean authorities, surrender, or face an attack. but russian media now saying reports of a russian ultimatum are, quote, utter rubbish. what we know right now is about 6,000 russian troops are in control of crimea. the european union demanding an immediate russian withdrawal. the secretary of state, john kerry, he's due to fly out tonight, to go to kiev in ukraine. he spoke moments ago at the state department, and he condemned russian's invasion of crimea as an incredible act of aggression. in moscow, russian's parliament is considering legislation that could ultimately lead to the annexation of crimea as russian

territory. the russian president putin appears to be taking a very active role in military drills in western russia. the exercises involve about 150,000 troops, along with aircraft and ships. putin called for snap drills and surprise inspections throughout the region. let's go straight to the region, cnn's anderson cooper in kiev. russian media denying they have issued an ultimatum, but ukrainian troops clearly worried. what is the latest you're seeing and hearing on the ground? >> there is a lot of concern. it's obviously an incredibly tense situation here in kiev. the central government, the new government here is shaky, at best. there is an interim president, new prime minister, prime minister saying this country is on the brink of disaster. i can -- most people here, certainly the government here, is hoping there is some sort of diplomatic effort that can solve

this crisis, that can put an end to this crisis. they're saying the government in kiev are not willing to let crimea go. that that will not happen. but whether or not they could stop that is very much an open question. while they're hoping for diplomacy and looking to the west for some sort of diplomatic solution, they're also calling up their reserves, reserve forces. i was out in the square behind me today, earlier, it's now covered in fog so you can't really see it as darkness has come, a lot of people there giving their names to authorities, saying they willing to fight. young men, old men, well beyond military age saying they are willing to do whatever is necessary in order to keep ukraine unified. that's the message here that many people have. whether or not that can happen, though, a lot is going to depend on what vladimir putin decides to do next, wolf. as you said, they are all over crimea. the big concern many people have here is whether or not russian forces might actually go into eastern part of ukraine. other russian-speaking areas. if that happens, that would be a

major escalation. in sign of that at this point. but there's real concern about what the next step of vladimir putin is, wolf. >> because it's clear to everyone that the ukrainian military is really under the worst of circumstances would be no match for the russian military, which is so much more powerful, so much more advanced. so the key as you correctly point out, according to u.s. officials, as well, keep the russian troops in crimea, but if they start moving eastward, towards where you are in kiev, that would escalate the situation dramatically. is there a real concern in kiev with the ukrainian government that the russian military might actually move toward the east? >> there is concern. basically everybody here you talk to has that concern. for them, that obviously is -- would be the ultimate act of declaration of war. they already see this as a declaration of war. but to move into eastern parts of ukraine.

and that's -- you know, the borders of crimea are pretty -- are very obvious. less so in eastern parts of ukraine. which areas are russian-speaking, which areas are not. so if russian troops were to actually move into eastern ukraine, that would be a major escalation. but that has not occurred yet. and the focus is solely on crimea. it is really interesting, wolf, when you're out there just talking to people how many men are talking about signing up. how many men are talking about being willing to fight, die, keep ukraine together. they see everything that russia has done as a provocation. everything that vladimir putin has said they call lies. the idea that russian people, russian descent, were in any kind of danger in crimea they see as nothing more than an excuse for russian forces to try to flex their muscles in crimea. >> anderson cooper, reporting from kiev in ukraine right now. he'll be anchoring "ac 360" 8:00 p.m. eastern. thanks very much.

president obama spent the weekend working the phones. he spoke with putin for 90 minutes on saturday. on sunday, he spent the day reaching out to u.s. allies for support on ukraine. let's bring in our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. jim, the white house says it won't be sending a presidential delegation to the paralympic games in sochi, russia that, are about to begin. is this more boy costs? it looks like the g-8 summit in june the u.s. was planning on participating in, that may be gone, as well. >> reporter: that's right. and you heard secretary of state john kerry say, wolf, it may become the g-7. that russia may be expelled. want to pick up on something you were talking about with anderson cooper about that alleged ultimatum from russia to ukrainian forces about crimea. there is a state department conference call going on right now, wolf, and a state department spokeswoman, jen psaki, said they don't have any independent confirmation that

ultimate yum has been issued. but if that had occurred, it would in their view constitute a dangerous escalation. so that quick response from the white house to those events, even though the russians are saying that that did not occur. you mentioned the word from the white house earlier this morning that, yes, they are no longer sending a presidential delegation to the paralympic games in sochi that begin on march 7th, just a few days from now. the athletes will continue to go and the president will cheer them on, according to the white house. but there will not be a u.s. delegation as part of that. one thing we should mention, you talked about phone calls. the phone call that occurred this weekend between president obama and president putin. we should mention that vice president joe biden did call the russian prime minister medvedev earlier this morning. and he made clear in that call, wolf, that quoting a senior administration official here that if this situation is not resolved, russia will face increasing political and economic sanctions. and so -- and we heard that all weekend long from administration

officials, that if the russians don't pull back, respect the territorial integrity of ukraine, that we're going to see these sanctions shall the diplomatic levers at the white house and they're going to start ratcheting those things up to force russia's hand out of ukraine, wolf. >> jim acosta at the white house, thanks very much. the president getting ready to meet with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, later this hour over at the white house. the president expected to make on-camera comments at the beginning of the meeting. netanyahu, will, as well, possibly -- at least the president will be speaking about the situation in ukraine once we get that, video, of course, we'll bring it to you here on cnn. arizona senator john mccain not holding back on his criticism of the president in wake of the ukrainian crisis. here's what he said just a little while ago. >> the fact is, this is a blatant act on the part of vladimir putin and one that must

be unacceptable to the world community. it cannot stand. we cannot conduct our economic sanctions. there is a broad array of options we have. why do we care? because this is the ultimate result of a feckless foreign policy where nobody believes in america's strength anymore! >> senator mccain is here with me right now. feckless foreign policy. that's directly related to the president of the united states. you're criticizing him, right? >> from the beginning. from the beginning when he refused to criticize the iranian government, when people rose up and died in the streets of tehran. all the way through. this incredible misreading of vladimir putin, his intentions and the world as we have it today. they keep denying, president and secretary of state, this is not east-west. this is not return of the cold war. well, it isn't on our part but certainly is on vladimir putin. putin wants to restore the

russian empire, which ukraine is the crown jewel. there are pressures on the baltics, on moldova, on other countries in the region. and we continue and, of course, russian planes continue to fly into syria, loaded with weapons for bashar assad. and this president, tell my famous overheard conversation, tell vladimir i'll be more flexible when i'm re-elected. well, what has this flexibility gotten us? and i don't want military action is off the table right now. but let's go back to peace through strength. what kind of a message are we sending when we're slashing our military, and at the same time, the world is disruptive and dangerous as any time since -- >> putin, as you know, he's a tough guy. he sees russian interests over there, whether in ukraine or in 2008 in georgia, when he moved russian troops into georgia. president bush was still

president at that time. you can't blame president obama for -- >> oh, i blame president bush for not doing more. although when you compare it to what's happening in ukraine, it's still a matter of principle. >> but the opening i was trying to make, and i'm anxious to get your reaction to this. >> sure. >> putin doesn't care about sanctions or pulling a delegation from the paralympic games or ending the g-8 summit in sochi. he sees ukraine, at least the crimea peninsula, effectively as part of russia. he sees a strategic interest just like he saw in georgia in 2008 when he moved russian troops in. any of these steps that you're recommending -- we spoke on friday -- would really make a difference. >> in the short term, probably not. because we have to regain our credibility, which we have none. and by the way, again, there are significant russian populations in many countries, in poland, in romania, in the baltic countries. does this mean we will now a acquiesce to putin acting on

behalf of russian population and parts of all these countries in the region? >> so if it's not going to deter putin, what should the u.s., the europeans, the nato allies, really do that might make -- and say to him, you know what, all right, you're in crimea, you're effectively in control of crimea, and there are a lot of russian -- ethnic russians -- they're welcoming those russians, as you know. you have been there. how do you stop him from moving eastward towards key skpef taking over the rest of ukraine? >> first of all, could i remind you, the reason why the majority of the population of russia -- because stalin -- >> moved them, i know. >> and slaughtered half of them. and in 1994, in exchange for ukraine getting rid of nuclear weapons, there was a guarantee by russia they would respect their territorial integrity in part of ukraine. >> because ukraine had nuclear weapons. >> so putin obviously has no respect for agreements signed by his country. we need to do economic sanctions

and in a broad array of areas. another thing we need to do is expand magnitsky, involved in the decision-making and carrying out these orders. the russians love to go to london and las vegas. they love to raise their families. they love to have -- the oligarchs buy land and property here. we could hit them hard. >> along the lines of what the u.s. has done to iran? so that what you would like to see happen? >> i would like to see that and probably more because of individuals who are responsible. i think when we hold individuals responsible -- we need -- >> so do you think putin -- medvedev? >> i mean anybody who gave the orders that there is sanctions against them or carried out these orders. but also, we need to also say, okay, georgia is on the path to membership, in nato. you attack georgia again, and obviously that has a

repercussion of attacks in nato. we need to increase our capabilities in order to shore up military operations, exercises with these countries. we need to have a broad array. and when people say we can't do much, then i don't agree. i think the strongest, most powerful nation in the world economically in every other way can do a lot of things. >> is the president on the same page as angela merkel, chance lore of germany? she seems lessen client to take these steps. >> disappointment to me, whether be german and noninvolvement in libya. it's been germany. the greatest and strongest nation in europe, and they have backed off of everything. very disappointed in her comments. and by the way, maybe putin also, who knows angela merkel, thinks he can get away with this. >> probably does. >> and my question is who is next and what's next? europe ukraine you were talking about.

there will there be mayors in eastern ukraine saying our allegiance is with russia, we're inviting the russians in, and if there is some acts of violence, then therefore that's being used as excuses. this is a very dangerous business we're in. but we have to bested fast. and it's all got to do with our presentation of what's acceptable for russia to do and not. and right now, nobody knows what that is. key decision in the history of this administration was i'm going to strike syria, and then backing off of it. that sent a message all over the world. >> the president does say on those chemical weapons, he through diplomacy is managing to destroy syria's chemical weapons. he didn't need to use military force. and you're smirking and smiling. >> well, i mean, of course, they have slow-walked it, the syrians have. but the same russians are helping them remove the chemical weapons while delivering conventional weapons. building these barrel bombs and

slaughtering. now 140,000 people have died in syria? you have seen these pictures. it's horrific. >> let me ask one final question. i know you don't have much confidence in the president as the national security leader of the united states and the commander in chief. what about the national security advisers helping, and secretary of state -- you know john kerry well, the secretary of defense, chuck hagel. susan rice, national security adviser. the intelligence. do you have confidence in this team of national security advisers helping the president? >> not a lot. because it's very clear that their advice to the president has been cut our military. we're never going to fight another land war. by the way, do you know how many times we said that? that we'll never fight another land war after world war ii, after korea, after vietnam? and so i think there is a totally% guided misguided attitude towards vladimir putin and what he's about. and the only thing that vladimir

putin understands is steadfast strength. peace through strength. remember who said that? >> yeah. i remember also the timing last week when chuck hagel announced the defense cuts of troop levels. i guess that was bad timing, given what's going on this week. >> not good timing. i still believe in america. i still believe we can be steadfast, but i think we've got to understand slat mere putin and what his ambitions are. that's a key element. >> i suspect you're right. all of these steps, the u.s. is now contemplating. and no military operation. no boots on the ground, no air flights. these other steps will be significant, but probably at least in the short term won't change what putin has in mind. >> there are elements of planning that nato can begin, especially where these other countries are concerned. including members of nato. >> but you've got to get nato in agreement.

nato acts by consensus. whether nato would be in agreement is another story. >> tough call. >> thanks very much for coming in. senator john mccain. up next, ukraine is just the latest international challenge for president obama. our own gloria borger gives us her take on whether the president has a creditability problem. and later, an exclusive interview with the former ukrainian leader, just released from prison. we'll hear her plea for help from the west. work end? does it end after you've expanded your business? after your company's gone public? and the capital's been invested? or when your company's bought another? is it over after you've given back? you never stop achieving. that's why, at barclays, our ambition is to always realize yours. but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive,

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interfere in ukraine, sending troops to the crimean peninsula. critics pounced on president obama over his handling of this crisis. let's bring in our chief political analyst, gloria borger. credibility, a potential problem for the president in dealing with putin right now. >> you just heard senator john mccain come out forcefully on that issue. look, no doubt president obama looked vacillating when it came to syria. i think the question you have is, what are putin's motivations here? he deidn't need to have us look vacillating in syria to do what he's doing in crime i can't crimea. he's got other geopolitical reasons for doing what he's doing. what percentage of his reasoning was because he believed that president obama would not be strong in retaliation or he believed the allies, including someone like angela merkel, who you spoke to john mccain about, would not be strong in her response? what part of his calculation was that? it's hard to know. clearly was a part of it. was it a major part of it?

don't forget, vladimir putin is somebody who lied to the president, said he was not going to do exactly what he ended up -- what he ended up doing. so it's hard to kind of figure out his motivation here. i c engli i think the big problem is, how does the u.s. lead a response that's strong and can have an impact in the long term. i'm not sure there is much of an impact you could have on the short term. >> the key right now is to stop the russians from moving outside of crimea and move towards other parts of ukraine. you remember in august 2008, that's when russia en eninvaded, and president obama took office in 2009 and secretary of state hillary clinton wanted to reset relations with russia and putin. >> how did that go? >> how is that working out? >> not really working out well. and i think, as we all know -- and the challenge for this president now is to lead to lea

it's -- putin doesn't care, honestly, if he's getting thrown out of the g-8. but the question is, what can we do in terms of these sanctions. as senator mccain was talking about, what can you do to isolate russia economically, so that you revoke visas, you freeze assets. those are things that will have a huge economic impact, and that's the way that the united states can retaliate at this point. but the president needs to spend his time convincing our allies and that's the problem he's got on his hands right now. >> got to get the allies on the same page. not easy. gloria, thanks very much. coming up, investors getting their first chance to react after this crisis in ukraine exploded over the weekend. strong reaction from markets on wall street and around the world. up next, an exclusive interview with ukrainian leader, just released from prison, what she wants western powers to do about

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the former prime minister of ukraine is calling on world leaders to do all they can to keep crimea a part of ukraine. julia tib schencko spent the last two careers in prison in ukraine, being freed just over a week ago when the former president was forced from office. today she met with our chief international correspondent, christiane amanpour, for her first international tv interview. a very important interview, christiane, she is deeply

concerned the diplomacy might not work. >> reporter: that's right. it comes at an important time as secretary kerry is headed to kiev trying to figure out what to do short of any military confrontation, of course, to rein back moscow from the brink and also to try to make sure the ukrainians don't do anything accidental or tensionin he thinksal to incur. so there is enormous influence there. she said she had addressed the u ukrainian people, urging them to be calm and cool. and she told me, begging to keep crimea part of russia.

>> translator: in hard times, ukraine has left on its own and when russia is allowed to take away crimea, then the world will change and then not only politics and life in ukraine will change, but politics and life will change practically everywhere in the world. and then we have to accept to state that in 21st century, one country, an aggressor, can violate all the international agreements, take away territories wherever she likes. we can't afford this in the world. that's why if the instruments of diplomacy won't work, if all nene negotiations won't work, the world has to apply strongest means. >> you sound like you are

raising the stakes and calling for the west, united states, britain, europe, to use military force against russia. am i reading you correctly, is that what you are calling for? >> translator: i am asking all of the world personally, every world leader, to use all the possibilities in order to avoid ukraine losing crimea. >> now, what she had started by saying was that she had received information that is subsequently being confirmed that the russian parliament has been debating a draft law that would provide for the annexation of crimea. so she was incredibly worried about that. but to give you an idea of how out of control this whole thing is, all sorts of rumors and counter rumors have been flying around, some of which turns out to be true, some apparently not. the latest, which caused a huge international sort of go-round was this alleged ultimatum given by russia allegedly, the head of the black sea fleet there, for all ukrainian military

installations to surrender, and gave a specific time of before dawn tomorrow morning, or else, quote, those bases would be stormed. now that did create a storm of criticism, certainly on social media, certainly in the press on cable networks and 24-hour networks. and in the last couple hours, the russians or the people who are head of the black sea fleet, and apparently also the russian defense ministry, has said actually that's not true. there's no ultimatum. so a little bit of breathing room there. >> and they called it utter rubbish. let's hope that's the occasion. christiane, thanks very much. we're going to walk you through a map of the region around russia and ukraine. and show you why crimea is so critical and how it matters to the united states. i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online

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act of aaggression. vladimir putin personal inspected russian military exercises and called for snap drills and surprise inspections throughout the region. the crisis in ukraine also being felt on markets around the world. mere abel aber is at the new york stock exchange. what's the reaction so far? >> hi, wolf. well, as you said, huge selloff on wall street. we knew before the open there was going to be a wave of selling. but it's gotten stronger as the day goes on. it's not just here in the u.s. markets in asia and europe plunged 1 to 3% overnight and commodities surging. oil, wheat, corn and gold. those are things generally considered safe for investments. no doubt about it, ukraine had big problems before today. a weak economy in need of financial bailout. but what was a financial problem has turned into an economic problem. so trade could be impacted because ukraine is a major wheat and corn producer. also, a lot of oil from russia

has to go through ukraine before it gets to europe and russia's economy could take a hit. so we're seeing that fear in the market, wolf. but some analysts don't expect a selloff to last. and say, actually, this might be a buying opportunity, wolf. >> let's see if it is. right now the dow jones down almost 200 points. mere abel, thanks very much. we'll keep you updated throughout the day. also coming up, president obama getting ready to sit down with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, only minutes from now. we'll tell you the blunt message the president plans to deliver to the prime minister. people don't have to think about

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president obama has a message for the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. time is running out on the middle east peace process. the prime minister scheduled to meet within the next few minutes with the president over the

white house. in an interview, the president spelled out what he's about to tell the prime minister, among other things, quote, if not now, when? and if not you, mr. prime minister, then who? he also said that if netanyahu does not believe that a peace deal with the palestinians is the right thing to do for israel, then he needs to articulate an alternative approach. jeffrey goldberg is a columnist, conducted the interview. he's here. thanks very much, jeffrey. the president was pretty blunt in his comments and coming on the eve of his meeting with netanyahu. what was his motivation right now? why would he do that? >> i think he wants to shape the conversation, remind the prime minister, that it's on his shoulders. i gave the president a couple of opportunities to talk about the palestinian leader, mahmud abbas, and he turned it back toward the prime minister each time so that the palestinian leader is the most moderate leader that the palestinians may ever have. and so it's really up to the prime minister to take advantage of this situation. and that time is running out.

like, there is not going to be these endless opportunities for peacemaking. so he was sort of setting the stage in a candid way. >> and he's got a so-called framework plan that kerry has put together with his advisers, that he thinks is in he is real's own best interest and will try to sell it to the prime minister. >> exactly. it will be interesting to see how much prime minister is buying. but he basically says, you know, look, your demographics are changing, you can't hold on to the west bank. palestinians don't want to hold on to you. you can't hold on to that forever. and, you know, this thing might fall apart eventually. and you want to be a jewish minority democracy, you have to make some painful moves rather quickly. so the president believes huh his analysis is correct and trying to convince the prime minister that his analysis is correct. >> hovering over all of this is a major disagreement between the prime minister and the president over dealing with iran's nuclear program. >> right. the prime minister would rather come and talk about how to be tough on iran. obama is coming to be tough on israel over the palestinian

issue. so there are -- they are competing here a little bit. and the prime minister is worried about the president's opening to iran, these ongoing negotiations. and so it's a little bit of a recipe for tension. i asked the president very bluntly, i said, do you think the iranians still believe that all options are on the table, especially after the syria walkback when he chose not to strike at syria. and in this interview that's now on bloomberg view, you can see, he says absolutely they believe that our deterrence is strong, and they believe that i'm capable of using military force. i'm not sure that the prime minister of israel believes that at this point. >> there's been a history of a little tension between these two -- >> they have a very emotional relationship, yeah. they have a very tumultuous relationship. the prime minister needs the president and needs to convince the president of his position. and they have been having the same argument in some ways for years. >> excellent interview, excellent article on bloomberg view. jeffrey goldberg, thanks for coming in. >> thank you.

>> setting the stage for this important meeting between the president and prime minister. how is president obama's message to the israeli prime minister likely to be received? we're going to talk with the spokesman for prime minister benjamin netanyahu. mark regulara is standing by live here. stay with us. (music) defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. calcium citrate plus d.

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middle east peace efforts and the interim nuclear deal with iran, very high on the agenda. over at the white house right now, president obama and visiting israeli prime minister

benjamin netanyahu, about to sit down in the oval office for a very important meeting. mark regga is here with us right now. when i say very important meeting, it certainly is. a lot at stake on the peace process. the nuclear deal with iran. but what's been the reaction from the prime minister to the tough words that the president told jeffrey goldberg in this interview with bloomberg view that the prime minister has to really come to terms with it this as a make or break moment in the peace process? >> the last few months, we have been working very closely, very energetically, very intimately with john kerry. with the secretary of state. i think my prime minister has been speaking to secretary kerry almost every day to try to get this process moving forward. and we have moved -- i think this process has the ability to jump forward. our problem has been this. it's not enough that secretary kerry and prime minister netanyahu want this process to succeed. we need the palestinians to also

be a full partner in this process. >> but the president seems to be putting all of the pressure, at least in this you heard what jeffrey just said. and it's up ahead to accept the framework. two states for two people. if i can say that, i have a daughter in the military and a son about to go in. they want peace and no one has to tell us. the peace will be good. >> give them this exclusive interview and have these candid words for the prime minister. on the eve of this meeting at the white house. >> i can say the following. we want this process with kerry to work. the prime minister netanyahu has been engaged and think going the extra mile to make this work and our frustration is being so far

across and any flexibility. >> that's what's happening. they took down the settlements and went back and what did they get. they didn't get peace. >> hovering over this is the iran deal. there is no doubt. a major split between president obama and prime minister netanyahu and the wisdom of this interim deal easing up on the sanctions a bit in order to freeze in effect the iranian nuclear program. how big of a difference is there between your government and the obama administration. >> we were not particularly enamored with the interim deal. we didn't like it. we thought it was possible to get a better deal with the iranians by keeping up the pressure. the focus now on the final deal and we believe firmly. it's crucial to deny iran the capability of being a nuclear threshold country. >> you believe the president has that same objective. >> if iran reaches that

threshold capability, they will cross that threshold at a time of their choosing. >> there is always a military option. either israeli or a u.s. military option. are either of those military options credible to the iranians? >> you will have to ask the iranians. >> israel does what they need to be done. >> what are does it mean? >> let's be clear. they are talking about a process of negotiations to destroy the iranian nuclear program. to end the ability to make a nuclear weapon. >> nothing wrong with that. you are a diplomat. >> israel wants to see it succeed. we don't want to see a deal that for the sake of a deal and a photo op don't solve the problem. it's crucial. >> i don't think the president wants to see that either. >> we want to see the iranian nuclear infrastructure. no send ri fujs and no ballistic missiles and no heavy water

reactors. the truth is the iranians say they only want the energy for peaceful purposes. you don't need them if you only want them for peaceful purposes. you don't need a heavy water reactor and don't need enriched uranium. both of them have peaceful nuclear programs. neither of them has plutonium. neither has enrichment. you don't need the elements for the peaceful program. >> forget about the means to those. the ultimate goal, the points you out lined, is the obama administration on the same page? in terms of the big picture. >> we don't want to see that. >> is the obama administration going from the iranians? >> we have to wait and see and the discussions are ahead of us. our position is clear. we cannot allow the regime to get its hands on the nuclear weapons capability.

they have been talking the talk of moderation. the new president smiles. they are a smooth talker. what they are doing at home and executio executions. and an all time high. what they are doing in syria. underground and elsewhere and supporting the machine with the fighters and the weapons. supporting terrorists and hezbollah. hamas and jihad. they have not changed. they refused to recognize them and call for israel's annihilation. there is still a chance. we have to be very careful that this terrible regime does not cheat nuclear weapons. >> sounds like it will be an important meeting that is about to begin in the oval office. thanks very much for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> president obama is about to meet with the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu and they will make statements at the beginning of their meetings. the president will make a

statement and see if reporters in the oval office are able to ask any questions, specifically about the situation in ukraine. we will see what the president has to say if anything on that. as soon as the video comes in from the oval office, you will see it right here on cnn. we'll be right back.

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. >> let's get back to the top story. the crisis unfolding in the ukraine. why is crimea so vital to russia, so vital that vladimir putin is willing to risk isolation for it? it's all in the value. we walk through what's at stake. >> it has a value not only in its own right, but in relation to the eastern part of this country. when you look at all of ukraine, if you want to talk about agricultural production, it's over here. you want to talk about iron and

steel production, it's over here. you want to talk about critical gas lines for carrying natural gas for the rest of europe, it's all over here. you can see it's anchored down here at the bottom. you mentioned word strategic. that's one of the reasons it matters so much. it's home to several thousand russian troops. the opposition and the government said they are about 1500 there. they are less on a normal basis. the troops are always there. they have been for a long time. in part because they are there to support the much renowned russian black sea fleet which is based out of this area. you can see physically the enormous influence it can have. why aren't the ukrainians going to fight back? simply put, because they can't. the military in every way is so much smaller, so less prepared,

wolf. even with all the value of the east in crimea is not much they can do militarily. >> good explanation. thanks. that's it for me. i will be back in "the situation room." thanks for watching. newsroom with brianna keilar starts now. >> i'm brianna keilar for brooke baldwin. this is special coverage on the crisis in ukraine. russia is denying they are planning a full military assaults if crimea doesn't surrender. today a naval commander promised a military storm if the ukrainian military refuses to put down the weapons in crimea. they are the heavily pro russian